On Friday, 20 January, Solvita Āboltiņa, Speaker of the Saeima, when meeting with the journalists who covered the events of the Barricades of 1991, pointed out: “The first independent Republic of Latvia that was established in 1918 existed for almost 22 years. This symbolic age is approaching once again. The times have definitely changed, and a military invasion of our country is almost impossible. In the 21st century there are other ways of undermining a free state and depriving people of it. Currently, certain politicians are stirring up people who have co-existed peacefully in Latvia for centuries.”

On Thursday, 19 January, the Saeima adopted in the final reading amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Saeima which repeal election of public officials by a secret ballot, envisage the right of at least 10,000 citizens to submit collective submissions and amend the list of committees of the Saeima.

On Friday, 13 January, the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima supported the national position On the International Treaty on a Reinforced Economic Union, which explains Latvia’s views on drafting the new Treaty of the European Union (EU).

 On Thursday, 12 January, the Saeima adopted in the final reading amendments to the Law on the State Border of the Republic of Latvia, according to which truck drivers will have an option to apply electronically for crossing the border between Russia and Latvia and thus avoid long queues near the border.

On Thursday, 12 January, the Saeima adopted in the final reading amendments to the Personal Identification Documents Law, according to which a new type of personal identification document – the identity card – will be introduced in Latvia and will be broadly accepted instead of the passport.

The Presidium of the Saeima decided today to schedule the annual foreign policy debate in the Saeima for 26 January.

Members of the 11th Saeima established 40 groups for interparliamentary relations last year.